


Control

by a_dot_burr_ell



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, post episode 6
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 11:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5415140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_dot_burr_ell/pseuds/a_dot_burr_ell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With no options left, Yang can only see one way out that will leave her some semblance of control after what Mercury did to her. So, for now, she runs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Control

* * *

 

Guilty

_Guilty_

**_Guilty_ **

It was the only word that echoed through her mind as she sat in her cell. If you could even call the tiny closet she was in a cell.

The room was tiny, a seven by ten foot concrete room with steel reinforced walls, a metal combination toilet and sink sat near the metal bars that kept her inside, and a four inch slit near the top of the back wall served as the pitiful window and the only source of natural light; not that it meant much now with the sun setting and the florescent bulb in the ceiling giving off a hard, unforgiving light. The metal bars and the window were both equipped with a forcefield that would drain her aura if she dared touch it. Plus there was no bed, just a concrete slab for her to lay down upon.

That slab was what she was sitting on now, both feet planted on the floor, leaning forward with her weight supported by her forearms on her thighs. Her head was bowed, staring blankly at the chain and manacles that restricted the movements of her wrists and ankles. It was a cruel joke that she’d been stripped of her gauntlets, her precious Ember Celica, and shackled with these steel contraptions. Because even locked in this prison cell, she was deemed too unstable, too dangerous, to be allowed a full range of movement.

The match with Mercury had been over a week ago and every moment since then had flown by. She remembered the police surrounding her, weapons pointed in case she was going to attack. Her surprise had overpowered everything else as she listened to the condemnations of the crowd, watched the video replay of her supposed attack, and then turned to see the looks of horror on her team’s faces. She hadn’t put up a fight as the police escorted her off the tournament floor and into custody, too stunned to muster up a word for her own defense, as the Atlas forces had confiscated her weapons and ushered her into a Bullhead.

She spent the ride going over everything. She remembered hitting Mercury relentlessly until his aura had dropped, remembered her name being announced as the winner and remembered the cruel whisper that had grabbed her attention.

_“There isn’t going to a next time, blondie.”_

The kick, her retaliation. Every moment was embedded in her mind. And by the time she’d arrived back in Vale, she knew one thing.

She’d been played.

That knowledge, however, didn’t do much to help her as the aircraft landed. There was a specialized escort there to greet her and she was taken immediately to police headquarters. She’d been immediately booked on charges of assault, a serious crime for a Huntsman considering their elite training, specialized weapons, and abilities to use aura, and thrown into a holding cell. She’d asked for her team, asked for Ozpin, hell, she’d even asked for a goddamn lawyer but every request was met a refusal.

They’d left her in a relatively minimal security room for almost a day with nothing to do but stew in the knowledge that the little brat from Haven had set her up to take a fall, a fact that infuriated her to no end. Guards had eventually taken her to an interrogation room where several people rotated in, all trying to get her to admit a motive for attacking Mercury, no one listening when she tried to tell them the truth. When the last one asked if she’d attacked Mercury because she’d been jealous, she’d lost it; her semblance flaring, her eyes turning red and slamming her arms down on the table.

_“Will you idiots just shut up and listen?!”_

Yang closed her eyes tighter, remembering her mistake. The cops had jumped back from her, frightened, and despite trying to back pedal, they’d sent in reinforcements to try and subdue her. She had, eventually, gotten a visit from the headmaster and her teammates, but it hadn’t gone as planned.

_“Yang!” Ruby shouted, running up to the metal bars. “Are you alright?”_

_“I’m so glad to see you!” Yang responded, jumping up to reach out for her sister._

_“Stay back from the bars!” A nearby guard had shouted at them, causing Yang to scowl and step back from her sister._

_Yang looked from the crestfallen expression on her sister’s face to the stoic expression on her partner’s face as Blake stepped up beside Ruby. “How are you, Yang?.”_

_“I’d be better if I was out of here.” She answered truthfully, looking to the third person that had come to visit her. “Professor Ozpin, please tell me you’re here to spring me.”_

_“Miss Xiao Long.” Ozpin nodded to her in greeting. “I’m afraid It won’t be that simple.”_

_Yang felt what little hope she had crush beneath his somber expression. “That doesn't sound good.”_

_The headmaster was quiet, looking down to examine his cane. “We’ve heard the version of events you told the police. That Mercury attacked you and you retaliated. The video evidence and the thousands of witnesses, however, seemed to prove otherwise.”_

_“It’s the truth! I don’t know how he did it, but he attacked me! He threatened me as I was trying to walk out of the arena and, when I looked back, he had launched into a full scale attack!” Yang looked between the faces of her visitors, her eyes widening in realization. “Oh my god, you all think I did it!”_

_“Yang!” Ruby said, a look of hurt crossing her face. “No!”_

_“That’s why Weiss isn’t here, isn’t it?” Yang demanded. “She thinks I did it! And you guys aren’t sure about it either!”_

_“No, Yang,” Blake interjected, shaking her head. “If you say you didn’t do this on purpose we believe you. We’ve seen some crazy stuff in the past year,it would be naive to think that it wasn’t possible.”_

_“It was precisely that thought that led me to the ask for an investigation.” Ozpin said. “However, that was what led the headmaster of Haven to accuse me of bias. He is asking that you be extradited out of Vale for a trial.” Ozpin informed them. “He claims that our courts will be biased towards our trainees and is demanding that Atlas be used as a third party for mediation.”_

_“No way! I didn’t do anything wrong!” Yang exclaimed angrily, prompting the guard in the corner to reach for his weapon. Seeing the reaction, she purposefully took a calming breath. “Professor, you have to do something!”_

_“Professor, please, you can’t let them take her!” Ruby cried, looking panicky._

_“Then we will need to come up with an alternate theory.” He said decisively._

_“That girl!” Yang suggested, her brain thinking fast. “The one I helped Torchwick escape when we fought the Paladin and who I fought on the train! She worked in illusions!”_

_“It’s a bit of a stretch to think that someone working with the White Fang would infiltrate competition they had nothing to do with to… what? Sabotage a competitor?” Ozpin asked. “That would be risking quite a lot for revenge.”_

_“Unless they are involved.” Blake said thoughtfully._

_Ozpin looked to Blake. “What makes you think that?”_

_“Ruling out the possibility would be underestimating them.” Blake answered. “Ruby was the one to discover that someone was trying to infiltrate the CCT Tower during the dance, and we know now that the White Fang isn’t opposed to using humans for their current plans. What if there was a team here spying for them?”_

_“That will be a good place to start.” Ozpin nodded. “In the meantime, I will try and do all I can to block the transfer. Until then, Miss Xiao Long, please try and keep your head down.”_

So that had been the plan, investigate and stay calm. It had worked pretty well for the first couple of days until she’d been moved out of the holding cell into a two person cell. Yang hadn’t bothered making friends, preferring to keep to herself until her new roommate had tried to jump her while she was sleeping. The resulting fight had resulted with Yang getting an sedative being jammed into her neck as the guards pulled them apart.

When she’d woken up, it was to find herself in chains, in solitary confinement and with everything going to hell. Her ‘outburst’ as it was being referred to, had destroyed Ozpin’s attempts to hold off her trial. He was successful, however, in keeping her trial in Vale; it just so happened that it wasn’t enough to make a difference.

Yesterday, she had been found guilty of brutally assaulting Mercury Black. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to defend herself, deemed too unstable to appear in person. Ozpin had been allowed to come after the fact and fill her in.

They had the video as evidence, and apparently, a doctor that had told the jury about the extent of Mercury’s injury; that he would never be a Huntsman due to the injury Yang had inflicted. They had declared her guilty with only twenty minutes of deliberation. Now, Yang was waiting to be transferred to a high security prison, the amount of time she’d spend there still to be determined.

He informed her that Ruby had wanted to come along but they’d denied her request. He’d told her that her sister didn’t want her to give up and that they’d continue searching. She’d listened to everything Ozpin had to say without shedding a tear but, as soon as he left, she let the despair she’d felt since her arrest overtake her.

She missed her sister, missed Blake. She even missed Weiss despite the knowledge that the heiress had lost hope in her. Yang desperately wanted to wake up from this nightmare to find that it was all a lie, that it was the morning before the finals and that she still had time to change this. Hell, she would have even loved to have five minutes alone with Mercury so that she could beat a confession out of him.

She was roused from her thoughts when she heard footsteps and the clanging of metal. Her ride was here.

“Prisoner, Yang Xiao Long,” A man called, opening the door to her cell. “We are here to transport you. Stand up and make no sudden movements.”

Yang did as she was told. Getting to her feet as much as was possible in her shackles, Yang stayed perfectly still until the soldier had motioned her forward, cringing as she heard the sound the chains made as she walked. Outside her cell, there were nine other soldiers waiting to close ranks around her. They all carried guns and wore the same Atlas military uniforms.

“So I guess we’re going to Atlas?” She asked conversationally, glad her voice didn't betray how she truly felt.

“Silence.” One ordered, poking her in the back with his weapon. “Get moving.”

Yang scowled but moved anyways. The group walked slowly, unable to go any faster due to her hindrances but the men around her didn't complain about the pace; obviously they were all consummate professionals. They led her farther from her cell but, instead of feeling happy about that fact, her heart pounded with every step she took.

Atlas was an unknown, a punishment for a crime she hadn't committed. She wouldn't know the next time she’d see her sister, or her friends, or her father, just more walls that she would be confined within. She felt the need to run rising up in her, her instincts telling her to run, to fight, to survive. The soldiers led her to the exit, holding a pair of double doors open for her to pass through and she inhaled her first breath of fresh air in over a week.

As if sensing her hesitation, one of the soldiers jabbed her in the back again, getting her moving once more. Together, they quickly approached the airship that would transport her out of Vale. Yang felt her heart sink as she saw it, knowing that this might be the last time she’d see the city she’d grown to love over the past several months. She hung her head, not watching where she was going until one of the soldiers held their arm out to stop her.

“Halt, prisoner!” He ordered rudely before turning to the man on his left. “Where are the two we left?”

“Maybe they went to make preparations inside?” His buddy guessed.

“Well, go check it out.” The first one ordered. “You, go with him.”

The two he pointed at didn’t answer, merely nodding and entering the airship. It left the rest of her ten man escort milling around until they heard on of the men in the airship scream.

“What was that?” Yang asked, trying to see what was causing the commotion.

“On the ground, now!” The guard roared, tripping her until she was face down.

Yang grunted as she hit the floor but stayed where she was. She could feel the guards close rank around her, every single one of them raising their weapons. She stayed where she was, dying to know what was going on.

“Halt!” One of the soldiers called. “In the name of the Atlesian Military, state your name and stand down!”

Any further orders were drowned out with the sound of a blade slashing through the air. One by one, her escorts dropped like flies around her. When the fighting had stopped, she craned her neck and could make out a woman in red, wielding a katana and wearing a Grimm mask.

“It’s you.” Yang said, surprised. Out of everyone she’d pictured seeing, the woman who had revealed herself to be Raven upon their last encounter was at the bottom of the list.

The older woman reached down and helped Yang to her feet before stepping back. “Hold out your arms.”

Yang did as she was told, holding her arms away from her body as Raven lifted her sword over her head. She had a brief moment of panic as the blade came down, but she closed her eyes against the feeling as the sword cut through the chains that bound her wrists. A second slash hit the chain between her legs, freeing her completely. She didn’t waste any time in stretching her captive limbs, alternating between rolling her shoulders, and quad stretches.

“That should make it easier to travel.” Raven commented, watching passively. “We should go.”

“Why should I go with you?!” Yang demanded, stopping her stretches. It felt good to have her full range of motion back but that didn’t mean that she was ready to blindly trust this woman. “Last time I saw you, you said we were gonna talk but you took off before I could even get any answers!”

“It was too exposed.” The other woman replied coolly.

“Well, I think it’s about time I got those answers!” Yang said.

“I agree.” Raven nodded.

“What are you even doing here?” Yang asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I got word that you were in trouble.” Raven explained. “More than even you realized. I knew the only chance to get to you was when you were in transit. If they’d gotten you behind the walls of the Atlesian Prison, it would have taken a small army to-.”

She broke off mid-sentence. “Someone is coming.”

Yang turned to the double doors as they swung open to reveal another person that Yang hadn't planned to see. Yang felt a pang in her chest at the sight of her sister, she’d missed her so much.

Ruby was running toward them, Crescent Rose, in full scythe mode, by her side. As soon Ruby saw Yang, her little sister's face lit up and she rushed towards them, rose petals dancing in the wind behind her. In response, Raven leveled her sword at Ruby menacingly.

“Wait!” Yang exclaimed, stepping in front of the weapon. “She’s my sister.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Raven said, her expression unfathomable from under her mask. “If she was close enough to hear, that means that others will too. It’s now or never.”

She replaced her sword into the hilt and Yang watched as a mechanism on the sheath spun, cycling through a variety of dust. It settled on a red cartridge and Raven pulled her sword out again, slashing at the air with the newly coated blade. Yang heard Ruby gasp as the motion opened up a swirling, red, and black vortex. It wasn’t the first time Yang had seen this, although she had thought she was concussed at the time; but that still didn’t stop her from stepping back in surprise.

“Yang, what?” Ruby trailed off, looking between the fallen guards and Raven. “Yang, what is going on?”

“Ruby, what are you doing here?” Yang asked, rushing over to her sister and embracing her. She had been beginning think she’d never see Ruby again.

“I had to come!” Ruby exclaimed, looking up at Yang. “The trial was horrible and they were just going to take you away without letting me say goodbye! But what is going on? Everyone in the building has been knocked out! And who is she? What is that swirly, red, thing?!”

“Yang...” Raven rushed her.

The sound of footsteps made their way to the three women. Looking towards the building, Yang saw no less than a battalion of the Atlesian Knights flanked by the Vale Police. They would make their way to them in a matter of minutes and there was no way that they could fight off all of those forces without any backup. There was no way they could out run them, either.

“If we don’t go now, they will assume she helped you.” Raven said simply.

Yang knew she was right but that didn’t make it any easier. She pulled out of her sister’s grasp and stepped away from her. “Ruby, she’s right. You need to get out of here. And so do I.”

“Please, Yang.” Ruby begged, her silver eyes boring into Yang. “If you leave, there won’t be any guarantee that we could clear this up. Trust that our team will be able to make this right! Trust that we’ll get to the bottom of this. Trust _me_!”

The portal won’t stay open for much longer. From now on, it’s your choice.” Raven said, sheathing her sword. With that, she turned and entered the portal, disappearing from view.

Yang was torn. She could hear the sincerity in her sister’s eyes, she knew the determination that lied in her spirit. When Ruby said she wouldn’t stop until Yang was free, she meant it. But it also meant playing by the rules, giving herself up and allowing herself to be imprisoned. Or she could go with Raven, do her own digging, and maybe she could come out of this with the answers she’d been searching for her entire life.

The vortex begin to shrink and Yang knew that her opportunity was slipping away. Ruby must have seen it too because she leapt at Yang as if scared that she’d dart towards it. In response, Yang pulled closer to Ruby, wrapping her arms around the smaller girl again. She could feel the smaller girl exhale, as if relieved that Yang was choosing her. It made her next move harder.

“I’m sorry, Ruby.” Yang whispered, feeling tears threatening to spill over.

“What?” Ruby mumbled, not understanding.

Yang moved her arms up to grip Ruby’s cape before using all her strength to throw the girl as far away from her as she could. Ruby landed several yards away with a groan, completely disoriented. Using her sister’s disorientation to her advantage, Yang ran towards the portal, throwing herself in after her mother as the vortex closed around her.


End file.
